Luxury Ferry Sunk as Artificial Reef

On Friday, Delaware Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) sank the retired ferry Twin Capes at a man-made reef web site off the coast of Cape May, New Jersey.

The Twin Capes went down at 1155 hours on the web site of the the Del-Jersey-Land Inshore Artificial Reef. The vessel’s sinking was carried out by Norfolk, Virginia-based marine contractor Coleen Marine, which purchased the ferry from the Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA) final 12 months for the aim of reefing.

The Twin Capes was in-built 1975 and was one of many authentic three vessels of the Delaware River and Bay Authority’s 1970s-era fleet. She underwent a significant $27 million refit in 1996, together with the development of a brand new superstructure and 4 new decks, a number of lounges and restaraunts, a brand new pilot home, and “shark-fin” smokestacks. The DRBA meant to present her cruise-ship facilities in a ferry-sized envelope.

However, Twin Capes bumped into difficulties after the refit. Her meals service operations had been shuttered in 2000 after the FDA discovered a number of sanitation violations, and as she value extra to gas and man than different vessels within the fleet, the DRBA in the end determined to place her up on the market.

Twin Capes by no means attracted a industrial purchaser, however she has sturdy potential as a part of the synthetic reef, DNREC mentioned. The company expects that the vessel’s 70-foot vertical profile will entice tunas, sharks, barracudas and leisure divers.